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“Thank you. That’s what being loved properly can do,” Serenity announced as they released each other. “I’m going to give you two some privacy though. Mr. Montgomery, I’ll clear your schedule for the afternoon so you can spend some time with your mom.”

I didn’t realize I was staring at Serenity until Mama called me out on it.

“Mhm.” Her hands were on her hips when I forced my eyes off Serenity’s ass as she walked away. “That’s princess huh?”

I couldn’t stop smiling even if I wanted to. Nodding, I confirmed. “Yeah, that’s princess. Things started shifting between us in June, but we’ve been official since July.”

Mama clapped excitedly, making me chuckle. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

“I wanted to, and I’m not hiding her at all. I just . . . wanted her to myself for a while, you know?”

“How serious is this? I mean . . . it was serious enough for you to commit and you haven’t done that in years.”

“It’s as serious as serious can get. She’s definitely going to be my wife.”

Mama squealed as she hopped from her seat. Walking over to me, she grabbed my face and covered it with kisses until I laughed and pushed her away.

“I felt led to stop by since I was in the area and had no idea why. Now I know! I had to stop by so I could get this good news! You’ve got to bring my future daughter over for family dinner and tell me all about how this new relationship came to be.”

“Of course. Whenever she’s ready, I’d love to bring her over.”

“Oh, she’ll be ready this weekend. See you Sunday.”

After shooting me a wink, she gave me another kiss on the cheek. When she left my desk, she lingered at Serenity’s. I was going to go out there and save Serenity but decided against it. She’d have to get used to my mother’s overly affectionate and emotional ass anyway. As soon as I saw Mama hug and kiss her, I laughed. This lady was too damn much.

Mama pointed in my direction, and that was the only reason I stood to go see what was being said.

“Does this Sunday work for you?” Mama asked.

“Oh um . . . I mean . . . sure. I-if that’s okay with Kaos. I certainly wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Chile, please. It’s my house and you’re going to bemyguest. Don’t worry about him.”

“Wow, Mama. Tell me how you really feel.”

She sucked her teeth and gave me a dismissive wave of her hand.

“You sure you’re okay with this, baby?” Serenity asked.

“Positive. If you’d like to go Sunday, that works with me.”

“I guess we’ll see you Sunday,” Serenity agreed, causing Mama to gush and hug and kiss her all over again.

I ended up walking Mama outside and telling her what I wanted to eat Sunday, then checked on Taylor before going back up to my floor.

“Sorry about that,” I said, leaning against Serenity’s desk. “I probably should have warned you that Mama is very affectionate.”

“It’s cool. I love it, and now I see where you get it from.”

Chuckling, I nodded my agreement. “Yeah. I definitely grew up with love and affection.”

“It shows, and I’m glad I get to reap the reward of that. There’s nothing worse than a man so hard he can’t be soft and affectionate with his woman.”

“Oh, you’llneverhave to worry about that. Don’t get it twisted; I’ll lay a nigga out by day and use these same hands to hold you close by night.”

She giggled and leaned forward and was about to kiss me until Eva frantically jogged down the hall. Eva always had anxious energy, so I didn’t bother to try and figure out what she was obsessing over now. If she needed my input, she’d come.

“That was close,” Serenity whispered as she sat back down. “I’ll be glad when I can love on you freely in here.”